Following the broadcast of his interview with John McCain on ABC's This Week, conservative pundit George Will joked with his fellow panelists on the show, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and Chrystia Freeland of the Financial Times, that McCain has recently been "doing much better with his base, which happens to be the media, which is why we read about it."

"The media have always loved him and everyone in the media is happy to see him coming back," agreed Freeman, but she said she saw some substance in McCain's latest positions as well.

Will added, however, that "if [Ron Paul] hurts any candidate, it would be McCain. McCain's yesterday's maverick. This is serious maverickism."

"Ron Paul is actually a true conservative," commented Will's fellow panelist, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. "He wants to eliminate Social Security. He want to go back on the gold standard. He's the real thing." However, Krugman noted that the Republican Party doesn't have a sufficient base of independent-minded voters for the Paul candidacy to get very far.

The panelists then discussed Rudy Giuliani's declaration that he is a Boston Red Sox fan, and whether it means he is committing treason against the Yankees in an attempt to pander to New Hampshire primary voters.

"It doesn't matter, though," concluded Krugman. "Everyone in New York hates Rudy. That's a place he doesn't need to shore up his base because he doesn't have one."

Although polls have shown that Giuliani would not fare well in New York as a presidential candidate, Krugman may have been facetious in suggesting that everyone in the city actively hates him.

The following video is from ABC's This Week, broadcast on October 28, 2007.